Effects of 3-repeat tau on taxol mobility through microtubules

Both the anti-cancer drug taxol and the microtubule-associated protein tau suppress dynamics of microtubules (MT). We have observed taxol mobility with full-length 3-repeat tau, one of six tau isoforms, using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) on MTs and compare with earlier results on recombinant full-length adult 4-repeat tau. Taxol mobility becomes highly sensitive to taxol concentration in the presence of 3-repeat tau (up to 1:1 molar ratio) as it does in the presence of 4-repeat tau, but is 2 to 3 times faster at low taxol concentrations. Fitting to a mean-field binding reaction model [J.L. Ross \textit{et.al}, \textit{PNAS} 101:12910-5 (2004)] suggests that the presence of 3-repeat tau enhances taxol movement through pores in the MT walls.